The Draper Room is almost complete! I've finished adding the major pieces to the room such as the brass etagere, nesting tables and the coffee table. There was one area though that looked blank. It sits in between our dining table (the only thing in the room that doesn't go with the decor lol) and the kitchen. I'd been searching up and down to find a skinny drawer/shelving unit or curio cabinet so that I could move our delicate wine glasses, bar accessories and other items down from the cabinet so that they won't be potentially damaged. I've always been a fan of faux bamboo pieces but couldn't find anything within my price range that suited my fancy. A few weeks ago, while searching on Craigslist for "drawers," I came across this lovely set.



And I just KNEW that was the piece I had been searching for!

In my beedroom inspiration board on Pinterest, I'd pinned several images just like her. Here were some of my favorites:


Curious to see how original she really was, I found a great blogger who talks about the Dorothy Draper "Espana" dresser here. Per Dayka Robinson (who has AMAZING STYLE BTW) "A true Espana dresser will have a finished back" and mine does not. A true Espana dresser is also extremely expensive and the chances of me stumbling upon a set like that on craigslist for $65 is slim to none. Nevertheless, I fell in love with that dresser online and then when I saw her in person. She is beautifully lacquered and has no damage to her! After asking the store manager about her, he said that she was leftover from an estate sale. (I love finding out the history of each piece I buy)

So, I excitedly hauled her home and placed her in the desired spot.

Since I've moved back from SLO, it seems as though my weekends have been non-stop! Its Sunday night and I'm pretty beat as I've tried to cram as much stuff as I could into 2 days. Tomorrow starts a new week and am pretty excited as I'm going to continue my hunt for items to decorate my house with.


The rest of the weekend was fun! We played a round of golf at our nearby executive course and I whooped the mister. Normally, I'm a few strokes behind but I was ahead by about 10. I even hit my first birdie! I'm excited to get back out tomorrow to hit some balls and keep this good golf juju going! I'm also learning how to cook and made ginger and broccoli beef which came out uh-MAZING! I paired my meal with this Crispin cider that had Belgian hops and maple syrup. I thought it would be sickeningly sweet but was pleasantly surprised that it had a mild flavor.

The other day, I was browsing in a used furniture store and came across this guy...


He one minor blemish on him and for only $16, I couldn't resist! Have you ever had one of those moments when you're just browsing and you find "IT" and you just know that's the one? That was one of those moments! I love the lines on the mirror. It just makes it even more Hollywood Regency looking!

Even the hubs was intrigued by it. He then asked how many celebrities in the 70's  partied with this tray... (oh my). We both took turns styling the tray and this is what we came up with

He chose:
A simple decanter with his favorite whiskey and a souvenir glass from his favorite beer event.

She chose:
Flowers and a textured container

Two totally different looks with 1 tray. How do you style yours?


Cheers!
-Melissa

I've been searching on Craigslist lately for all things brass and glass. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a set of faux bamboo inspired "brass" nesting tables within my price range. They were about an hour away so I jumped in the car and headed out to get them! They had been spray painted over in white so I knew I'd have to strip the paint to get to the "brass"... or brass-plating as I now know. I know that a solid brass piece would cost a pretty penny so brass-plated furniture would be my next choice.

Here they are "as-is" when I bought them



I met @west23rdstvintage (aka Kristy) while browsing her awesome Craigslist finds on Instagram (check out her IG, she finds the BEST stuff!) who told me of Citristrip, a gel-based paint stripper. My hubby went to our local hardware store and came back with this...




I was slightly skeptical as I looked at the bottle. This stuff is going to take off paint?! It was gooey, smelled really nice and didn't look menacing at all like paint stripper should look.
Boy was I WRONG.
I painted the orange goo onto the first table and by the time I got each leg covered, the paint on the first three legs started to bubble and pucker. Since this was my first time at the rodeo, I had a small scraper and was unequipped to deal with the aftermath that was the shedding paint off the brass.


The next day, I bought the after wash that Citristrip sells. Once again, I was inequipped and used a thick pair of rubber gardening gloves which lead to a minor chemical burn on my left thumb. After my project, we were having guests over and I thought I had dyed my thumb red from all of the cherries I'd chopped to go into a sangria (that post is definitely coming soon!)!!! Nope. I'd successfully peeled off a couple of layers of skin. I dressed it daily with Aquaphor and a festive band-aid and it has successfully healed after a week. LESSON LEARNED: WEAR THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT!


After my thumb fiasco, I tried to polish them since the brass was worn in a few spots. Did you know that ketchup can polish brass? Thanks to Google, I also learned that Coca-Cola and lemon juice can also do the same. The citric acid eats at the tarnish.



After realizing that this would take forever and the tarnish is actually rust in some places, I'd decided to spray paint them. And the finished product...




HOORAY!!! My first furniture restore! I have had this striped box/basket that I bought from The Container Store and since I'm incorporating stripes into this room, I thought this would be a good place to store throw blankets.

More to come... :)

-Melissa